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Video Games: Digital vs Retail Sales [infographic]

Everything is going digital now-a-days. If its Netflix, Steam, iTunes, or the Kindle store – they all are extremely rapid growing segments of their respective markets. Ever since we figured out the internet could replace the neighborhood Best Buy, any brick and mortar outlet has felt the effects of digital distribution.

Video Games are perfect for digital sales. Instead of waiting at midnight in a few hundred foot long line for hours just to play the new Halo a little bit before everyone else, I can go to my living room at midnight and instantly download whatever just came out. There’s less hassel, less packaging, and sometimes insane discounts.

Valve’s digital store Steam has been around for quite some time and has made Valve a hefty sum of cash. They don’t seem to follow the video game pricing rules though. First off, they give away their most popular game. Who does that? Who thought that giving away their most played game for free would be a good idea, but it was!

The video game business is changing, and I think for the better. Soon a new release will be priced depending on how good the game was, not on how recently it was released. [Via]